Canna edulis green
leaf form and flowers. Occasionally, these green leaf forms are also found
with crimson flowers

Canna edulis
bronze leaf form. Leaves have a pronounced bronze colour along the edge
and the stems are deep
brown.

Canna edulis

Impressive, stately plants
planted in villages as a minor crop. The plants grow to about 6ft and more
tall with their leaves evenly spread out on the stem giving it a very
neat, orderly appearance. These plants are deciduous in winter. In the
Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayan region it is known as
Phool-tarool (phool-ta-rool) and literally translates
into flower-yam (phool=flower and tarool=general term
for tuberous roots of various edible yams)

People grow a green leaf form
and a bronze leaf form. The bronze leaf form has orange/crimson flowers
and the green leaf form has yellow flowers. Both bloom in
summer.

Ethnobotany: These
plants are grown in villages and small plots around homes. The stems and
leaves are cut and cooked with corn meal and oil cakes as feed for cattle.
In winter the mature rhizomes are harvested and used by
villagers as a food. Only in the remote villages is it still used for
human consumption. Mostly the rhizomes are cultivated for feeding pigs and
cows. Boiled rhizomes are sweet. Used in villages for fermenting and
making a liquor. Also distilled into a potent
spirit